eBay loses to LVMH on brand counterfeiting

LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, the world’s leading luxury products group, takes note of and is satisfied with today’s ruling by the Paris Tribunal de Grande Instance which finds eBay responsible for brand counterfeiting. This decision gives credence to the requests made by Parfums Christian Dior, Kenzo, Givenchy and Guerlain. Pierre Godé, Director of LVMH group, said: “The Tribunal has ruled that eBay, in using in its adverts the keywords of some of LVMH’s brands, has committed acts of counterfeiting through reproduction or imitation.” To redress these damages caused, the Tribunal has ordered eBay to pay LVMH €80,000. The Tribunal has also forbidden eBay from continuing any such activities and will enforce a fine of €1,000 per future infringement. Furthermore, the Tribunal will announce these rulings by publishing them in three French and / or international newspapers as well as on the eBay.fr website and eBay.com. This ruling will come into immediate effect.